International Journal of Mechanical Engineering and Applications 2016; 4(3): 115-122 121

3.5. Parametric Analysis
Pipeline outer diameter is one of the main factors affecting
the submerged weight required to ensure stability to a great
extent. Pipeline diameter does not directly affect water particle
velocities but it affects hydrodynamic forces directly [7].
A parametric analysis was performed using input parameters
for case 1, keeping all other parameter constant while varying
pipe outer diameter and wall thickness. The buoyancy, lift,
drag and inertia forces, as shown in Table 3, were seen to
increase as pipeline diameter was increased from OD 20
inches to OD 40 inches. Figure 6 shows the variation in the
pipeline inherent submerged weight and the required
submerged weight to ensure stability as the pipe outer diameter
is increased. The graph shows that for pipeline OD > 32.5 in
(825.5 mm), the required concrete coating thickness of 78.796
mm becomes insufficient for lateral stability.
Graph of Submerged Weight vs Pipe OD
500
462.5
Submerged Weight (kg/m)
concrete coating sizing performed on AGA software. The
submerged weight of the pipeline (using the specified
concrete thicknesses in the design basis) ensures lateral
stability by surpassing the required submerged weight by a
factor of at least 1.1. Pipeline outer diameter affects the on-
bottom stability of submarine pipelines to a great extent. A
concrete coating thickness of 82.55 mm proved to be
inadequate to ensure on bottom stability for pipelines OD >
32.5in ( 825.5mm) installed at 5m water depth. For
pipelines exceeding this nominal diameter, other methods of
weighting such as rock dumping and concrete mats be
considered over increasing concrete coating thickness. As
further concrete coating thickness increase may induce
excessive installation stresses.
Nomenclature
DNV Den Norske Veritas
28 AGA American Gas Association
26.25 API American Petroleum Institute

425 24.5 LRFD Load & Resistance Factors Design Format

Wall Thickness (mm)

387.5 22.75 CWC concrete weight coating

350 21 Uss Significant Water velocity
312.5 19.25
Do Nominal Outer Diameter of Steel
275 17.5
t Pipeline Wall Thickness
237.5 15.75
tcc Corrosion Coating Thickness
200
20 22.5 25 27.5 30 32.5 35 37.5
14
40 tc Concrete Coating Thickness
Pipe Outside Diameter (inches) ρst Density of Steel Material
Actual Submerged Weight (Ws)
Required Submerged Weight (Wsubreq) ρcc Density of Corrosion Coating
Wall Thickness
ρc Density of Concrete Coating
Figure 6. Submerged weight versus pipe outer diameter. ρw Density of Seawater
ρi Density of Pipeline Contents
It is recommended that pipelines to be installed offshore be ρfj Density of Field Joint Filler
further segmented, that is, readings for environmental data be Lpipe Joint Length
taken at steps of 2m water depth. This will further optimize Lfj Concrete Cut-Back Length
sizing done for concrete coating requirements reducing project D Water Depth
cost. Corrosion and marine growth rates should be forecasted Hs Significant Wave Height
to evaluate the stability of the pipeline after years of operation. Tp Spectral Peak Period
Dynamic simulation of the pipeline on the seabed considering θ1(°) Angle of shallow wave with pipeline
waves and currents should be carried out to further verify its Uref Current Velocity at reference height
stability. Drag and Inertia coefficients, CD and CM, have been θcurr Current direction w.r.t. pipeline
known to vary with relative clearance as shown in experiments Reduction due to wave spreading and
performed by Jothi-shankar and Sundar, [19]. Therefore, R
directionality,
further work should be done varying coefficient values V Kinematic Viscosity
accordingly and their effects on submerged weight. CL Lift Force Coefficient
From the stability checks it was observed that all five H Depth of burial
Cases 1 – 5 exhibited ADEQUATE vertical stability and θslope Slope of trench
lateral stability. CM Inertia Force Coefficient
zr Reference height above seabed
4. Conclusion ξ Water Absorption percentage of concrete
θ Hydrodynamic force Phase angle
The sections of the pipeline near shore required a greater d50 Seabed grain size
concrete coating thickness due to increased drag, lift and Su Undrained shear strength of soil
inertia forces from hydrodynamic activity as seen in Figure 5. Fw calibration factor
The effect of hydrodynamic forces on pipelines on the seabed K keulegan carpenter number
reduces with water depth as shown in Figure 2. The design M current to wave ratio
template successfully verified the sufficiency of preliminary